Even though we’re sure there are plenty of people who love deep dish pizzas, this food is controversial to others. Since this pizza has a thick bread crust and is covered in copious amounts of sauce, some people think that it’s more of a tomato pie and isn’t a true Neapolitan pizza. We refuse to take a side in this age-old debate and instead introduce our readers to a holiday called National Deep Dish Pizza Day. This day falls on April 5th annually and is sure to not only bring joy to deep dish pizza lovers but also disdain from those who oppose this food. Where do you fall on the deep dish pizza debate?

The History Of National Deep Dish Pizza Day

This holiday was created somewhere between 2013 and 2016. The exact date it was created remains a mystery, as does the person or organization who invented it. What we do know, however, is that it originally began as Deep Dish Pizza Day and sometime after 2016, the “National” part of the holiday’s title was added. However, this isn’t a true national holiday because there isn’t a congressional or presidential decree establishing it as such.

The History Of Deep Dish Pizza

Deep dish pizza is believed by some to have been created in Chicago during the 1940s. Although there are several competing origin stories for this pizza, there is one that is more popular than the others. In this story, the deep dish pizza was invented by Pizzeria Uno in Chicago, Illinois, in 1943. It’s believed that the original pizza chef of that pizzeria, Rudy Malnati, developed the recipe. However, as is often the case with food origin stories, this is a bit controversial because some believe that the pizzeria’s owner, Ike Sewell, invented the dish.

A competing origin story for deep dish pizza claims that it was originally invented in 1926 by Rosati’s Authentic Chicago Pizza. If that’s the case, then that means that Saverio Rosati, the pizzeria’s owner at the time, actually invented the deep dish 17 years before Pizzeria Uno. Whichever story is correct, however, most everyone can agree that the deep dish pizza is a product of Chicago.

Celebrating National Deep Dish Pizza Day

Celebrating this holiday can be done by enjoying a slice of your favorite deep-dish pizza. However, that’s not always as easy as it sounds because deep-dish pizza isn’t served everywhere. In those instances, we suggest that holiday participants take the time to make their own deep-dish pizza. And if the results of their pizza are satisfactory, they can always snap a picture of it and post it on social media using the hashtag #NationalDeepDishPizzaDay.